Another year in which Whigham will support the unlimited hunting and killing of the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. Last year Claxton, changed its Rattlesnake Roundup to a Rattlesnake Festival, and, using a captive population of animals for education and entertainment, experienced no fall-off in attendance or revenue.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has tried to reach out to Whigham by offering support and financial incentives to encourage a switch from “round-up” to festival. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering adding the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake to the endangered species list. Despite all this, Whigham insists on possibly having its legacy be “the town that helped drive a wild animal to extinction.”

BILL MATTURRO

Cairo

Comments

Look, Diamondbacks and Canebreaks are poisonous and a threat to both man and beast. Now I will not kill one out in the wild, but I will kill one near homes and buildings. Sorry, but I will let the King Snakes deal with other snakes also. I even have a new fondness for Skunks once I found out they will kill a poisonous snake. The other non-poisonous snakes do a pretty good job on rodents without the asset of poison. Sorry, but I consider my Grandchilds life worth more than that of a poisonous snake located near my home. I guess the people of Wigham believe they like them even less than I do.